Michiel Kersten

Frans Hals Museum: an introduction to painting in the Dutch Golden Age

Frans Hals and his contemporaries

Michiel Kersten

Map of the Dutch Republic in 1682 by N

icolaas Visscher

Haarlem, 1646, M

ap by Pieter Wils

EconomicsHaarlem: an industrial and market town Cityrights granted in 1245• Beer brewing (1620 – 100 breweries)• Linnen, wool, damask, silk industry• Linnen bleaching• Tulips and flower bulbs• Shipbuilding• Regional market

Jacob Matham

(1571-1631), The Three Lilies Brewery, and

the Country House Velserend of Johan van Loo, 1627, pen on paneel, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682), View of Haarlem

, circa 1670, oil on canvas, M

ontreal, Museum

of Fine Arts

Demographics• 14th century second largest city in the Northern Netherlands after

Dordrecht. Larger than Delft, Amsterdam, Rotterdam• 1574 – 18,000 inhabitants• 1620 – 40,000 inhabitants• 1st quarter 17th century - 50% of the population was of Flemish origin• 4th quarter 17th century – 55,000 inhabitants• Around 1815 – 20,000 inhabitants• 2015 – 155.000 inhabitants

Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde (1630-1698), The market

square in Haarlem w

ith the St. Bavo Church, 1696, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Art in the 16th century

• Portraits• Group portraits for Instutions, Guilds and Militias• Religious paintings

Maerten van Heem

skerck (1498-1574), St. Luke Painting the Viging and Child, 1532, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals M

useum

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haerlem (1562-1656), The M

assacre of the Innocents, 1590, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals M

useum

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haerlem (1562-1656), The M

arriage Banquet of Peleus and Thetis (The Judgem

ent of Pris, 1590, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

New consumers, new art• Haarlem cradle of Dutch art in the 17th century (Golden Age)

• Enormous production of paintings in de 17the century• New customers (burghers) - new genres in painting

• Landscape• Still life• Genre (scenes of daily life)• Portrait

Let’s look at landscapes first

Gilis van Coninxloo (1544-1606), Wooded Landscape w

ith Christ Healing the Lam

e Man, oil on panel, N

ew York,

Sotheby’s, 2015

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682), View of the Dunes near

Haarlem vith Rabbit Hunt , circa 1650, oil on canvas,

private collection

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682), View of the Plain of

Haarlem w

ith Bleaching Grounds , 1660s, oil on canvas, private collection

Foodstuffs in serene stillness

Joachim de Beuckelaer (1533-1575), Christ and the Supper

at Emm

aus, 1560-65, oil on panel, The Hague, Mauritshuis

Floris van Dijck (circa 1575-1651), Still life with Fruit, N

uts and Chees, circa 1613, oil on panel, Haarlem

, Frans Hals M

useum

Willem

Claesz Heda (1594-1680), Still life with Pastry and

Silverware, circa 16356, oil on panel, Haarlem

, Frans Hals M

useum

Daily life? Dancing, drinking, gambling and more…

Pieter Breughel the Younger (1564-1638), A Village Fair (Village festival in Honour of Saint Hubert and Saint Anthony), oil on panel, Auckland, Auckland Art Gallery

Dirck Hals (1591-1656 ), Music M

aking Company on a

Terrrace, 1620-25, oil on panel, Haarlem, Frans Hals

Museum

Jan Steen (1626?-1679), Festive Peasants, ca. 1668, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Hals’s dazzling paintwork

Frans Hals – facts

• Born 1582/83 in Antwerp – died 1666 in Haarlem• 1586 Family moves to Haarlem (baptism of his brother Dirck)• 1610 Member of the Guild of St. Luke• 1610 Married to Anneke Harmensdochter • 1616 Travels to Antwerpen to study Peter Paul Rubens’ work• 1617 Married to Lysbeth Reyniersdr at Spaarndam (daugther born a few days later)• Total 15 children

Number of paintings by Hals: circa 220 (Seymour Slive); Circa 145 (Claus Grimm)

Pupils:Dirck Hals; Adriaen Brouwer; Adriaen van Ostade; Philips Wouwerman; Pieter Gerritsz Roestraeten, Jan Miense Molenaer, Judith Leyster

Frans Hals, The Offi

cers of the Civic Guard of St. George, 1616, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Frans Hals, The Offi

cers of the Civic Guard of St. Adrian, circa 1627, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Frans Hals, The Offi

cers of the Civic Guard of St. George, circa 1627, oil on canvas, Haarlem

, Frans Hals Museum

Frans Hals, Regents of the Old M

en’s Alms House, 1664,

Haarlem, Frans Hals M

useum

Judith Leyster (1609-1660), The Jolly Toper, 1629, Haarlem,

Frans Hals Museum